How cool are all of those pics.....Rusty, that is just awesome that you have taken those. Rich, you will need to expand your page if Rusty keeps this up!!! Great work ya'll!! Thanks for sharing it all with us.....

Hey, Rusty, have you tried doing any EVP work there at night??? Keep us posted, would love to know if you do! Thanks again, Becca

No wonder you thought that picture was creepy, Earth, the bride looks like she's been hit with a frying pan, too!

"I could die a thousand times, but I'll always be here..."---Rozz Williams"It's not the sound of a new generation, it is the noise of a degenerate nation...the Nightmare of the American Dream..."---DomianaNeed gifts for goths? Handmade jewelry, clothing, porcelain & more! http://www.accentuateyourlook.com

Hey, Rusty, have you tried doing any EVP work there at night??? Keep us posted, would love to know if you do! Thanks again, Becca

Heck No!I just bought a house in cripple creek and don't need to upset any ghosts

There was a young couple that was gonna stay overnight a few months agoAnd around 12:30 am I heard someone running down the hall, down the stairs and out the backdoor.

The guy came downstairs said his girlfriend was scared and they would NOT be spending the night He looked abit scared himself and didnt even ask for a refund I wish they would have said what got them so freaked out

He was born George Edward Long in 1873, in Bramfield, Hertfordshire, the 4th of 6 sons of Rear Admiral Samuel Long R.N, and his wife Alice Jane Wigram. She was the daughter of Vice-Chancellor Sir James Wigram.

Rear Adm Long's career was cut short by his death aged 53 by a fall from his horse in 1893.

George's wife was Ursula (died 19 July, 1949), daughter of Peter Worth, of Denver, but it is doubtful that she was his cousin, as some sources say. However George's parents were cousins.

George was descended from the ancient family of Long of Wiltshire, England, and was also the great grandson of James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale. Three of George's brothers had distinguished military careers, two were in the navy and another, Wilfred, nicknamed "Linger" Long was a highly decorated Colonel in the King's Royal Rifle Regiment, during WWI.

Minnow, thanks for that treasure trove of information. I had no idea that anyone was researching the Long family, so this came as a bit of a surprise to me. Are you by any chance a member of the family?

As for the cousins reference, that information came for Dorothy Mackin's book on the Imperial. I assumed she was told that by Ursula Long when the Mackins bought the hotel after George's death. It's quite possible that Mrs. Mackin misunderstood the family connection and thought that George and Ursula were cousins rather than George's parents being cousins.

Do you have any information on the whereabouts of the Long's children? Most of all, do you have an official version of how George Long's death occurred?

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Minnow, thanks for that treasure trove of information. I had no idea that anyone was researching the Long family, so this came as a bit of a surprise to me. Are you by any chance a member of the family?

As for the cousins reference, that information came for Dorothy Mackin's book on the Imperial. I assumed she was told that by Ursula Long when the Mackins bought the hotel after George's death. It's quite possible that Mrs. Mackin misunderstood the family connection and thought that George and Ursula were cousins rather than George's parents being cousins.

Do you have any information on the whereabouts of the Long's children? Most of all, do you have an official version of how George Long's death occurred?

Hi earth_spirit,

Yes, George the friendly ghost is indeed a distant cousin of mine.

He emigrated to the USA in 1889 and married Ursula in 1901. Their 4 children were all born in Denver. George was a farmer before he bought the Imperial. Only two of their children remained in the US when they grew up - the eldest, Alice Jane (named after her grandmother), and Charles Edward, who served in WWII as a Captain in the US army. He married a Swedish girl, Inga, and d. about 1993 in California.

George and Ursula's eldest son Samuel Godfrey had a very interesting life. He went to England where he joined the Royal Navy, in 1930 becoming a member of the London Stock Exchange. He then trained as a pilot and worked as a Capt for B.O.A.C. 1934-39, made the worlds first commercial transatlantic flight in 1939, in a flying boat called the Caribou. He served in WWII (taken prisoner) as Squadron Ldr RAF. After the war he entered the church, and performed weddings, funerals, anything... etc, till 1951 when he emigrated to South Africa, becoming Chaplain of the S. African Church Railway Mission, Diocese of S. Rhodesia 1951-52. He returned to England as Rector of Little with Great Glemham, Suffolk 1955-62. In 1954 he married Mary Ellen, daughter of Robert Worham Rainsford, of Sandy Lodge, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. He died in 1991 aged 87 in Sussex, England.

His sister Esther Ursula, also went to England, in the 1930's. She married in April, 1934, Sir Michael Robert Wright, GCMG, FRGS, British Ambassador to Norway 1951-54, and to Iraq 1954-58. During the revolution in Iraq the embassy was seized and Sir Michael and Lady Esther only got out by the skin of their teeth, losing all their possessions, including family photographs.

As to the manner of George's death - I'm afraid I don't have the official version. A death notice appeared in the London Times, but doesn't give any clues. George was 69, and it may just be that he had reached his expiry date. A disproportionate number of men in the Long family over the centuries kicked the bucket at age 69. My own father included. ...Spooky, or what??!! But the story of George toppling down the stairs after a whack on the head from a frying pan is much more interesting!

No disrespect intended, Minnow. The story around Cripple Creek has always been that George Long met his demise at the end of a frying pan somewhere between the top and bottom of the cellar stairs at the Imperial Hotel. How true this is, perhaps we'll never know. Unfortunately, I don't get back to Cripple Creek all that often, but when I do, I am seriously considering going through the "morgue" at The Gold Rush, Cripple Creek's local newspaper, to see if I can find anything else.

Thank you for all the information on George Long and his family. I thought I'd add a few pictures that you may not have seen before:

The guest register showing G.E. Long's name being struck out and replaced with that of Wayne Mackin. Wayne and Dorothy Mackin purchased the Imperial from Ursula Long in 1946.

The Long family living room, now the site of the Red Rooster Saloon. Left to right - Alice, Esther and Mrs. Long holding infant Charles.

Esther Long dressed for her presentation to Queen Mary at the Court of St. James.

As for Alice Long, the only thing I've been able to find out about her is once again from Dorothy Mackin's book The Imperial in which she writes: The oldest daughter, Alice, suffering from recurring bouts of illness, lived with her parents until her death in the late '40's.

Edited by earth_spirit, 01 June 2009 - 01:32 PM.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

Well, it seems that the late Mr. Long is still keeping a close eye on his guests. I received an e-mail just this morning from a gentleman relating his experiences two days ago (June 28) while a guest of the hotel, and I thought I'd share part of it with you:

My wife and I stayed at the Imperial Hotel the night before last in room #58 when we were awakened in the early morning hours by a presence by the door of an illuminated vapor with bouncing circles within it for about 5 to 10 minutes then vanished and then a clunk at the door. We thought someone was trying to enter so listened and got ready to stop their entry but it returned to quiet so we went back to sleep.

A presence woke us again probably a hour later with no fanfare so back to sleep. I had no knowledge of ghosts prior to this but mentioned our experience to the clerk when I checked out but they did not tell me about George so I checked the internet when we got home. I also told a cleaning lady about it and she said she had worked only 4 days there and linen had been moved or missing when making up rooms. I had a cold shower at the Imperial after several attempts with the faucet but I blamed it on bad plumbing. I would have blamed George if I had known about him at that time. Ghost Busted with a near-vapor experience!

Edited by earth_spirit, 30 June 2009 - 03:12 PM.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson

I ran across this website, looking for ghosts of Cripple Creek to show my son. I used to live in Cripple Creek. I lived there from the time I was born in 72 until 1991. I worked at the Imperial Hotel, for 3 seasons. When I worked there, they were only open during the summer months and was closed from October to May every year. I saw George may times, but did not realize it was him until I came across this site. I never really studied the history of the hotel, to find out who my ghost friends were.

I remember coming to work one day and being early, I went into Red Rooster to chat with the bar tender until I went on my shift as a house keeper. The bartender, had to go and get some stock from the kitchen. I was the only one in the room and remember smelling a strong aroma of scotch and cigars. I turned to look in the direction it was coming from and saw a faint sihlouette of a older gentleman sitting at a table in the back. It looked like he was wearing a grey tweed suit. He looked up, smiled and went back to his drink. I turned around just as the bartender was coming in. When I turned back, the man was gone. I talked with the bartender later on that day and he said that he was always in there. He never hurt anyone, and usually only showed up when there was a woman in the room. As far as I can tell this must have been George.

Another ghost that roams the halls is a small child who likes to play pranks. When I would clean rooms I would leave my cleaning caddy outside the door of the room I was in to remember where i was. Well one day, I left the room to go get clean linens from the linen closet just down the hall. I left my caddy outside one room in particular, I remember as it was my favorite room in the whole place. When I returned, my caddy was moved across the hall two rooms down. This happened many more times over the course of me working there. I never really was scared, more annoyed than anything.

The third one that I encountered while working there, stays primarily in the theater. I don't know who it is, but it is the only one that gave me an eeire feeling. On the last day of the season I was down in the theater, vacuuming. I had the vacuum plugged in all the way at the top, with lots of slack in the cord. I would vacuum and then all of a sudden my vacuum would shut off. This happened a couple more times, and by this time I was kind of freaked out. I told the ghost, "Fine you win, I'm leaving". I gathered up my stuff and went upstairs for the remainder of my shift.

I knew all of the Mackins. My grandparents were very good friends with Dorothy , Wayne and son Steve. Steve used to make custom jewelry in the store on Bennett, that was attached to the hotel. I have a turquoise necklace that Steve made for me when I was 3 years old. They also owned the Hospitality House, across town on B Street. That place has a few ghosts of its own as well. Check it out the next time you are in town.

I didn't see your post until late in the day, so I'm just now getting back to replying. It was great hearing from you since you have such a unique insight into both the Imperial Hotel and the entity known as George Long. Having worked at the Imperial myself, I know what a great place it is. I'm sorry to say that working there now isn't quite as pleasant as was when the Mackins owned it, but it's still a great place to visit. I was last there about three years, and it was as charming as ever.

I too have a connection of sorts with the Mackins. Steve knows my parents from when they lived out at Lakemoor Estates (near Evergreen Station), and he is still well known as the owner of the Hospitality House--which used to be the old Teller County Hospital if I'm not mistaken. I also have a small collection of ephemera from the Imperial that I've picked up over the years on eBay--things like Imperial Hotel postcards, Melodrama programs and assorted correspondence that the Mackins sent out over the years. I really hit the jackpot a few years ago when I bought a Melodrama program on eBay. The seller told me that he was the executor of the estate of a gentleman who had been a close friend and fraternity brother of Wayne Mackin's at the University of Oregon back before WWII. He asked me if I wanted to purchase the entire lot of Imperial Hotel ephemera he had in his possession, and I jumped at the chance! I'm just sorry that I never had a chance to visit the Imperial before it was turned into a casino, as the Mackins seemed like incredible people.

As for your meeting Mr. Long, I have to tell you that I got a chuckle after reading about your encounter. I don't know about him being a cigar smoker, but I do know from Steve Mackin's accounts that George was quite fond of his scotch, and he had an eye for the ladies, as well. Now that I know he only appeared in the Red Rooster in the presence of a woman, I'm sure that's why I never saw him! By the way, was the man you saw bald with a slight monk-like ring of hair around his head? I have never found a clear picture of George Long, and this is the only description anyone has ever given of his appearance. Also, did you know that the Red Rooster was once the Long's apartment?

I'm just glad he was friendly towards you, as there are those who had told me that the energy they have felt down in the theater area was rather angry and upset about all the construction and people there in the building now. I've heard the ghost of the small child that's supposed to wander about the hotel, but George seemed to be the prevailing spirit there at the time.

Did you get a chance to visit my website about the Imperial? The link is listed at the bottom of my signature, or you can reach it at http://www.angelfire.com/wierd2/divide . There were a lot of stories floating around on the Internet about George Long--most of them false--so I had to set the record straight. It was because of that website that I met Jeff Belanger, the owner of Ghostvillage.com, and he was able to include the story of George Long in his book "The World's Most Haunted Places." Because of the website and Jeff's book, I've been in contact with many people like yourself who've had experiences at the Imperial. Thanks for taking the time to write about yours!

Also, are you familiar with the Fiesta Mexican Bull Fight that took place in the Cripple Creek District (Gillett to be exact) in August of 1895? While it's not a ghost story, I will be doing a write-up on it in the near future, so be sure to check back on a regular basis . . . and welcome to Ghostvillage!

Edited by earth_spirit, 27 September 2009 - 10:22 AM.

The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit -- Nelson Henderson